Welcome To The Beverly Hills Portion Of Our Government
That would be the IRS, where no taxpayer dollar is unsquanderable, where they spent $50K making a Star Trek video and other videos for a conference and $64K on plastic "squirting fish." Alex Pappas writes for The Daily Caller:
Florida Republican Rep. John Mica asked about the report that the IRS spent $64,000 on plastic squirting fish.Fink said he didn't see the swag at the conference.
"Maybe I could offer a reward," Mica said. "I'd love to see one of the squirting fish. I'm sure that some of the taxpayers, the people that went to work on that early bus this morning out of Baltimore or out of my district in central Florida, love to know that the federal government spent $64,000 on squirting fish for federal employees at a conference."
Asked if that was an appropriate, Fink replied, "There were expenses that were incurred at that conference, for that conference, that were absolutely inappropriate. That would be one of those expenses."
Fink was also asked during the early part of the hearing why the IRS paid more than $30,000 on hotel rooms for 45 local employees who could have stayed at home. He was also asked why the agency paid a per-diem charge for breakfasts despite the employees being provided a free breakfast in the mornings.
Public service jobs? Hah. Make that "Public, serve me!"
Here's what you bought for the IRS - the "squirting fish" -- given out with other swag, with a cost of $27K of your money:
Rep. Trey Gowdy bitchslaps the IRS at hearing for $3,500-a-night hotel rooms, a $4 million IRS conference, and more, as Americans galore are losing their jobs and struggling to make ends meet:
$50,000 on a parody video? $64,000 on squirting fish swag?
And nothing to keep air traffic controllers on duty at smaller airports around the country.
Nothing to keep the White House open for public tours (you know, so the American taxpayers can visit the house they've loaned to the president).
Nah, the government's not out of control. Not at all.
The Republicans may be motivated by partisanship, but they are asking the questions that need to be asked.
Conan the Grammarian at June 7, 2013 9:32 AM
The IRS pays their employees a per diem instead of making them save all of their receipts and compile an expense report signed by two supervisors and approved by extra accounts payable clerks. It's an administratively efficient way to handle business travel.
Contrast that with the process of filing your taxes.
smurfy at June 7, 2013 12:00 PM
I absolutely love Rep. Gowdy's excoriation of the IRS.
Too bad we can't get the rest of Congress to do the same thing.
Jim P. at June 8, 2013 5:46 AM
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